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Reuters reports that the the Minerals Council SA (MCSA) said on Monday that restructuring of SA’s platinum group metals (PGM) industry in response to rising costs and falling prices could result in between 4,000 and 7,000 job cuts.
South Africa’s PGM miners were discussing the need to restructure unprofitable production, the council said at the start of the Investing in African Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town. The MCSA said the sector, largely dependent on automakers’ use of PGMs to curb exhaust emissions from engines, faced “a great deal of uncertainty” as the world pivoted towards electric vehicles. SA has some of the world’s oldest and deepest platinum mines, which are expensive to operate, especially when metal prices are low. Electricity and labour costs account for most of PGM miners’ total costs. Anglo American Platinum, which employs more than 20,000 workers in SA, is reviewing costs. Sibanye-Stillwater, SA’s biggest mining sector employer, has indicated that its planned restructuring could lead to the closure of four loss-making PGM shafts and the loss of 4,095 jobs. Impala Platinum said it was offering voluntary job cuts to workers at its SA operations.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
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